witness

 there's something about living on the corner of a highway intersection.

during the night, and when it's really early and relatively calm, there's a whole living background of birds and trees living the best lives they can, enjoying every peaceful moment's pause from the polluting intensity in a world that's not built for them.

when it's busy, the constant intersecting streams of humanity, people transitioning into or out of their work forms, people checking into and out of the present, each in their own way, no one as present or mindful as those with sirens blaring, horns honking, or taking that dramatic step back from a near-road-death experience.

here i sit, the background to the background but also the star of my own drama, perpetually transitioning into and out of my own modes and states of being as countless other worlds pass me by.

deciduous trees' leaves

deciduous trees' leaves are 

tiny palms begging

sunlight from the sky before

they wither and die

as the tree curls up to hibernate for the winter

stone god

[recovered, circa 2007-2009]

stone god

stone eyes

stone heart

alone

and so to you i pray

to you i plead

i am but flesh

soft bone

why do you refuse

to answer me?

does your confidence, so lacking

require my sacrifice as proof

of your strength - your immutability?

short-fuse at the ball

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to my canadian poetry peeps

dear canada, you are safe

your indigenous are almost forgotten

your white guilt sheds crocodile tears

a fresh wave of immigrant colonizers cloaks your oncoming karma in the echoes of the first nations' dying breaths

high-coup

poets: join forces

arm yourselves, and then light up

this is a high-coup

Everything Is Broken

This is my parody of the Everything Is AWESOME!!! song:

Everything Is Broken

Everything is broken

Everything’s on fire and high priority

Everything is broken

And out of warranty

Everything would be better with best practices

But in practice it’s all rushed into slacknesses

Let’s hurry forever

We’re the same, I’m like you, you’re like me

We are just working for money

Everything is broken

Everything’s on fire and high priority

Everything is broken

And out of warranty

Woo! Three, two, one, go!

Have you heard the news? Everyone’s talking

Life is shit ’cause everything’s broken

Lost my job, no new opportunities

No free time for my non-existent communities

I feel more broken than a broken token

Drown my sorrow in chocolate frosting

Three years later, wash off the frosting

Smelling like a hobo, everything is broken

Stepped in poop, got new brown shoes

It’s awesome to win but frustrating to lose, frustrating to lose

Everything is better when we stick together

But no time, you and I are gonna race forever

Let’s hurry forever

We’re the same, I’m like you, you’re like me

We are just working for money

Everything is broken

Everything’s on fire and high priority

Everything is broken

And out of warranty

Polluted skies, delayed springs

We just named two shitty things

War and famine, a shoelace string

You know what’s broken? Everything!

Reliable news, civilities

We’ve not learned from antiquities

Simple features, passing tests,

Poor security vipers’ nests,

Drought, frogs, cogs, they’re broken

Crops, clocks, and socks, they’re broken

Police, brigs, oil rigs, they’re broken

Everything you see or think or say is broken

Everything is broken

Everything’s on fire and high priority

Everything is broken

And out of warranty